“There are two ways to live. You can live as if nothing is a miracle, you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein
I’m sat watching the early stages of Round Two of The Masters.
Except that due to a ‘bad buffering’ scenario ‘watching’ is proving to be a rather intermittent and blurry affair.
My viewing is reduced to a foggy, golfing version of Guess Who?
And even that is somewhat limited.
The universal hat wearing situation, and a lack of be-speckled golfers has left me with moustaches, beards and mullets as the only identifying features.
So, out of a field of 91, I can just about make out Shane Lowry or Cameron Smith…for the rest I’m completely reliant on commentary.
What is clear however, is that another chapter is being added to the incredible Tiger Woods story.
Eighteen months ago he survived driving into a tree at 70 miles an hour.
Extensive trauma to his legs, particularly the right, required significant surgery. Amputation, a distinct possibility, was narrowly avoided, and post-op recovery began with three months in a hospital bed.
I think most of us assumed his professional golf days were over.
Well of course, he’s proved otherwise!
In a storyline pinched from another golfing legend, Ben Hogan, Tiger has put in the hard yards to get himself (barely) fit enough to play four rounds of tournament golf at the hilly and undulating Augusta.
It’s a remarkable achievement.
It got me thinking about other ‘miraculous’ sporting achievement and the foundations upon which such accomplishments are built.
Here are a few of my favourites:
1953: Ben Hogan wins The Open at Carnoustie, part of his ‘Triple Crown’ season, a year when he won five of the six tournaments he played in. Three of them majors. In 1949 Hogan had suffered a double break to his pelvis in a head-on crash with a Greyhound Bus, and like Woods, it was feared he would never walk again.
1974: Muhammed Ali (32 yrs old) beats the undefeated Heavyweight World Champion George Forman in the Rumble in the Jungle. Reflecting on the fight, Foreman later said: "I thought Ali was just one more knockout victim until, about the seventh round, I hit him hard to the jaw and he held me and whispered in my ear: 'That all you got, George?”
1976: Nikki Lauder gets back in a racing car at the Italian Grand Prix.
This remarkable feat of courage took place just six weeks after having been trapped in the cockpit of his car when it burst into flames at the German Grand Prix.
Lauda lost the Formula One title by one point to James Hunt in 1976 but claimed the championship the very next year.
1977-1980: Nottingham Forest rise from 2nd Division mediocrity to become First Division and European Champions (Twice) under the stewardship of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.
Treat yourselves (Yes you Scott) to watching the documentary. It has extensive contributions from the players who went on this remarkable run of success with 'Mr Clough'.
You'll learn why Larry Lloyd earned the wrath of those doing the laundry at the City Ground; why Garry Birtles rarely trained with the rest of the squad; and why John O'Hare is still persona non grata at Anfield...
1986: A ‘semi-retired’ and ‘washed-up’ Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters age 46 yrs. In an electrifying performance The Golden Bear shot a back nine of 30 (-6). He remains the oldest winner of a Green Jacket.
And what have all these memorable episodes in sport got in common?
I think it boils down to the unswerving faith of the protagonists in their own ability.
At any level in sport (and life generally) confidence is so often the key to success. Those that do well tend to be characters that, as Bing Crosby put it: “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mister In-Between”.
Who knows where Tiger will finish up this weekend?
It’s miraculous that he’s even taking part, and most of us watching would consider Tiger making the cut to be an overwhelming success.
But I’m guessing that Mr Woods, unbelievable as it may seem, has a much narrower focus, winning another green jacket...